5:50 p.m., April 8
Sen. John McCain has just sent out a fundraising e-mail based on today's testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
"Today, I had the privilege to hear from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker on the current state of the war in Iraq and the progress that has been made there. We owe these two patriotic Americans a debt of gratitude for their selfless service to our country," he says in the e-mail letter.
McCain tells supporters to reject the "reckless and dangerous" call from his potential Democratic opponents, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, to withdraw troops. He also asks supporters to sign a "support our troops & their mission" petition, and includes a button asking for campaign donations.
All three of the candidates had a chance to question the architects of the Bush administration Iraq strategy, and they and the other senators used the appearances to score political points, but McCain has taken it a step further by fundraising off of it.
Here's the bottom of the letter, with the fundraising button included:
— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (9)
Hey John McCave...if you're so keen on supporting the troops why won't you support the new GI Bill? McCain has always and will always be a pander monkey.
Posted by N. Stephan | April 9, 2008 12:17 PM
Is McCain aware that 81% of our country thinks that America is going in the wrong direction. Everyone has admitted that we entered this war under flawed intelligence. The current administration has not followed any advice from the Iraq commission. Why is McCain promoting the war without pushing for diplomatic solutions? Also all of the current problems again are getting pushed to the back burner such as energy , jobs, housing slump, education, and the recession. I would gladly donate to McCain if he had concern for the problems here in the United States. They need to end this war someway or another it is killing us financially. He contradicts himself when he talks about run away spending.
Posted by danny | April 9, 2008 12:24 PM
The real question here is: Why aren't more Americans puking with disgust at these Nazi-esque politicians?
Posted by John | April 9, 2008 12:29 PM
The way most online letter software works is to generate a standard letterhead just like old fashioned letterhead stationary. Content is then added to the stationary whether it is printed or online. In this case the online letterhead template included a request for donation button to which the letter content was added, rather than the donation button being added to the content as your article suggests.
Posted by David Samuels | April 9, 2008 12:32 PM
This looks like fund raising based on his position on an issue. I don't see how that's a problem, or unique to this candidate..
Posted by Anon | April 9, 2008 12:32 PM
McCain sent out an issue-focused email, presumably to those who have opted to be on his email list. And because he includes a link to his site where people can donate, you come to the conclusion that "McCain (is) making money off Petraeus appearance"?
You're an idiot.
Posted by Jeff Schore | April 9, 2008 12:35 PM
Yeah, and so??
What's wrong with using a legitimate difference in policy between McCain and his rivals over the war and his support of Petreus (as opposed to Clinton's "suspension of disbelief" and MoveOn's "Betray-Us" positions)to appeal for funds from those who might be likeminded? Why is that a story at all?
The headline belies a bias on the part of the author... as it implies something shady or or underhanded, if not hinting at legal or ethical wrongdoing - when in fact it's completely appropriate!
Posted by Doug Edelman | April 9, 2008 12:37 PM
mccain and many others believe if we pull out of iraq, Iran and Al Qaeda will swoop in an take over. This would be bad.
Since the Dems want to pull out, Supporters of McCain and the War should feel the need to donate.
I thought he was going to accept public funding, just like Obama promised.
Posted by mike | April 9, 2008 12:39 PM
John Insane McCain........is a commie spy
Posted by dk | April 9, 2008 12:46 PM